Titans talk: Just say no to the stretch move

I've made bad examples and posted poorly thought out opinions before. Tonight will be no different.

Before we start, it's game seven between the Penguins and the Bolts/Lightening/Devil Skates and in Atlanta, it gets no TV coverage. Even baseball could find homes for their lousy early round games. Not hockey? They couldn't stack things up in the off chance that there would be more than two Game Sevens on the same night? Nope.
There is a common refrain in drafting, like don't drink a bottle of Jaegermeister during your fantasy football draft, unless you happen to be in a hotel conference room in Tunica and how often is that going to happen? The refrain is simple. Don't draft solely for need. Everything has to be in context.

It's going to be harder than usual this year. In a normal year teams would have taken care of a few perceived holes through the magic of free agency. The Titans would have Kevin Kolb, or Billy Volek, or even the corpse of Marc Bulger. They would have a "wily veteran" thus making their #8 overall pick less of a bull's-eye than it currently is.

Music City Miracles put together a nice article today making the claim for Andy Dalton. I like their moxie. They simply stated that if rumors are true (pause for hysterical laughter), and the Titans are actually deciding between Nick Fairley and Andy Dalton, they have to take Dalton for one reason. That reason is that QB is the most important position on the field.

The Titans might have disproven the "elite QB" argument two seasons ago had LenDale White, Alge Crumpler, and the back judge not slathered Crisco on their hands before kickoff. Even if it might not be technically true, having a top quarterback is important. I don't think the team should reach for one.

I don't think any of the quarterback prospects are worthy of the eighth overall pick in this draft. If you ask personnel men to rank the prospects, I think you'd see the top QB in the 20s. There are a lot of intriguing skill sets but no "can't miss" guy. You know, like Ryan Leaf.

Because so many teams have nothing at the position and without free agency or the ability to trade can't trade for Carson Palmer or Donovan McNabb dreaming of the 1 in 100 shot that either can return to their glory years, desperation's going to set in. Ryan Mallett and his super strong arm will look pretty tempting to the Vikings or Dolphins. Surely Jake Locker, whose overall college accuracy was like Vince Young trying to throw a screen pass, can get better as a pro. Colin Kaepernick without a doubt can rise up to the higher level of competition and dominate with that skinny frame. Andy Dalton can make those deep outs even though his arm strength is more Chad Pennington. Christian Ponder can avoid the injuries that plagued him in college. Like the bad boyfriend in college, scouting departments will book on the fact that these players can change.

A reach in the draft is like using the "stretch move" on a date. You might get a laugh but you're not getting closer to your gal. It actually worked with my wife, but that's the last recorded success of this maneuver in history. Trust me, I'm a blogger.

I don't believe in hoping that a player can fix all their problems at the NFL level. I think that the possibility of an Andrew Luck or a Matt Barkley in next year's draft seems better than this year's crop. Sure, I've said that I would take Gabbert to the Titans at 8. He probably won't be there and let's be honest. He wasn't dominant in the Big 12 last year.

I think that Andy Dalton at 8 would be a moronic pick if it's purely based on need. Maybe he's Drew Brees in disguise. It did take Drew Brees a long time to become elite, and one team had to give up on him for it to happen. No matter where the glaring weaknesses are, the Titans have to go with the best player at the spot. End of story.